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03/13/2011, 06:45 PM | #1 |
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Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Northeast PA
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29 Gallon Build
So this is my first post on Reef Central, but been a member for over a year reading others threads and post to gain some knowledge of keeping saltwater and building a reef tank. I have had freshwater tanks over the past years and always thought that saltwater was very hard to keep and too expensive. So last year I plunged in to the saltwater scene with a JBJ 28G CF Nano Cube. I had my problems worth with the NC over the past year and hate how limited you are to what you can do with the NC. So that's why I am starting this 29 gallon reef tank.
I started with a 10 gallon tank that I had for a sump and bought plate glass from Home Depot had them cut it for me for free. These will be used for baffles in the sump left section will be the fuge, center will be the return pump (Mag 5), and the right section will hold the filter sock, protein skimmer (Tunze 9002), heater. I have also bought this light bulb for my fuge from home depot for $7. It is a 15 watt, 5000k daylight CFL flood light. This week my grandfather and I been working on my stand for the tank. I built this out of white pine 2x4 and got the plans off a thread here on Reef Central. I built the panel out of 15/32" sanded pine plywood. Last edited by keifer_unit; 03/13/2011 at 07:33 PM. |
03/13/2011, 07:29 PM | #2 |
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Welcome!!! Looks good..
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20 years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. Explore. Dream. Tank info: Mr Aqua Cube 18x18x18 and 15gal sump.. Current Tank Info: It's to small |
03/13/2011, 07:29 PM | #3 |
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Location: Northeast PA
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Here is my stand primed and puttied
My grandfather have also been working on a power center for all of my electrical equipment. I have a panel on the left side of the stand that is going to have have 9 switches and 8 outlets. There is going to be on switch for each outlet so you can turn each outlet on and off and the 9th switch is going to be a main power switch. So if you need to cut the power to everything you can just flip the main switch. Here is the switch panel Last edited by keifer_unit; 03/13/2011 at 07:39 PM. |
03/13/2011, 08:36 PM | #4 |
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Location: Northeast PA
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Thanks, I am currently in the planning for my internal overflow and was wondering if anybody has any ideas. I was contemplating between the beananimal overflow or durso. I have 1" bulkheads and pvc for the bean overflow, but I have a mag 5 return pump and with the head loss I will have about 300gph and was wondering if the flow rate is too low for a bean overflow? Anyone's advice would be greatly appreciate.
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03/14/2011, 08:23 PM | #5 |
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So here is what I got done today. I started of my painting the power center black, just like the rest of the stand is going to be once I get a warm enough day to do it outside (hopefully tomorrow).
Here is the power center Then I started on the trim on the tank, and let me tell you one thing, this stuff is not cheap. I paid $2 something a foot from home depot and I just need to get 5ft because I had some other scraps of the same stuff in the garage. I also cut my 1/4" black acrylic I got from www.estreetplastic.com for a good price. I went to home depot a bought their plastic sheet cutter for $4 Which worked great twice but after that it messed up the third time. So after we had a scrap piece we tried the table saw on it with a regular wood carbide tip blade and it worked out great. Here are the results. |
03/15/2011, 04:50 PM | #6 |
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So today my grandfather did all the electrical work on the power center.
Here is the power center with 8 outlets for the inside and 9 switches for the outside with main power switch. I started painting the stand today and got 3 coats on it and I need one more which will get done on Thursday along with the doors. Here is the stand painted. Tomorrow I got some shopping to do since Im switching all the plumbing to 3/4". So I have to return all the 1" drain supplies and the 1/2" return supplies. |
03/27/2011, 01:11 PM | #7 |
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So it was really warm here in PA for a couple of days then all of a sudden, 8 inches of snow! So I haven't really been doing much with the tank because of the weather. But here are couple of things I finished before the snow came. I got the doors put on the stand and painted along with the power center on the stand. I drilled the glass and got all the plumbing layed out and just need some gluing. I also bought a 36" Current Nova Extreme 4X39 light fixture. I know a its a little longer but the 24" does really have a way to hang it without modification. So I figured that I will just get the 36" get full coverage of light and if I ever want to get a bigger tank I got the light for it.
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03/27/2011, 01:46 PM | #8 |
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Location: Houston
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This is a really cool looking build, very original I think. Subscribed!
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JBJ NC28, Radion, MP10, HOB-1, Mini Arctica, 2LF Phosban 150's - MARSH May 2012 TOTM JBJ 3g Picotope, Panorama Pro, AC70 29g AGA Planted FW |
03/27/2011, 02:35 PM | #9 |
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Location: Vancouver, BC
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Very cool build!
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03/29/2011, 12:08 PM | #10 |
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Any updates?
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03/29/2011, 02:38 PM | #11 |
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Location: Springfield, MA
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Will you be making an overflow box or running as is?
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03/30/2011, 09:29 AM | #12 |
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I will have updates later today because the weather actually got above 40 degrees for once here. I am going to finish gluing the plumping and then I am build a small box on the side of my stand that will hold my Neptune Apex base module and the EB8 power strip. This will keep it away from water and getting damage. I hate to lose a costly item like that to water.
I have made a overflow box out of 1/4 black acrylic. I will post some pics of that. |
03/30/2011, 03:52 PM | #13 |
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UPDATE!!!
So today I built a box on the side of my stand that will hold the Neptune Apex Energy Bar 8 and the base module. This was built so that it will not get ruied by any water and I really didnt want to mount it in my stand with the sump or on my wall. I didnt get any plumbing do to rain. all the pictures are taken with my DroidX and with the sun glare on my phone I could really see the screen that good and I didnt notice I was taking the pictures in black and white. lol painted tank overflow box |
03/30/2011, 07:54 PM | #14 |
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Location: Northeast PA
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So tomorrow I have my dry rock coming from BRS. My first tank I used live rock from my LFS and I got some pest and some nuisance algae from it. So this time Im going with dry rock. It is less then HALF the price of regular live rock and it doesn't have anything on it.
Here is the link for the dry rock Im getting. Now I just need to get some substrate for my tank and I don't know what I want to get. I was looking at the Carib Sea Seaflor special grade reef which come in 1mm to 2mm size which will be perfect. Anybody ever use this stuff or is there some better stuff people prefer? |
03/30/2011, 08:14 PM | #15 |
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Best sand I've used. It stays down with high flow & looks great.
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03/30/2011, 08:49 PM | #16 |
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Looking great so far!
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03/31/2011, 11:02 AM | #17 |
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Join Date: Mar 2011
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tank build looks amazing.... very well thought out!!! what type of bit did you use to drill the tank? the intergrated power station is awesome!! i hate wires and power strips all over.. very sweet dude. is it going to be hardwired into your house?? i also build all my own stands but have not ever thought of mounting boxes like that. cant wait to see it setup!
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04/01/2011, 09:26 PM | #18 | |
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Quote:
I am going to be leak testing the tank tomorrow and hoping for no drips. Then I will trying to find how I want to lay all my rock out and then filling it with water. I cant wait! How do you guys start your tank tanks. Do put the sand in then the rock followed by water or rock, sand, water? Just wondering thanks. |
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04/02/2011, 07:55 AM | #19 |
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I usually mix the 1st batch of water right in the empty tank. Heat water to temp first. Then add the rock before the sand. this way the rock is sitting on the glass & is less likely to move.
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04/02/2011, 10:43 AM | #20 |
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put egg crate on the bottom first it keeps everything steady. put in the sand next fill the tank a couple inches above sand level than put in live rock, and fill up the rest of the way make sure you fill slowly so you get as little cloudiness as possible
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04/02/2011, 04:50 PM | #21 | |
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04/02/2011, 05:23 PM | #22 |
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So I actually got a lot done today with the nice weather we have. I started the day off by leak testing the tank and sump. After that I ran the pump in the sump and had an issue with my main full siphon drain actually siphoning. ended up being the end of the pipe was in the sump to far and the air couldn't escape. After everything was running smooth, I drained the tank and sump and hooked up my refugium light. Then installed the Neptune apex energy bar and the base module in the side cover box and drilled a hole for wiring. I messed up on the hole for the wiring and forgot about the 2X4 on the inside so I had to move the hole over an inch. Live and learn. I then looked into storage for my food, supplements, and equipment and decided to build shelves in the door out of a fiberglass rod and bungee cords. Lol sounds real ghetto but worked out excellent.
I know what you all are going to say about the gas on the salt, but my grandfather put it there by accident and I moved right when I took the pictures. Also the salt isn't open yet. Now tomorrow I will be setting the tank up in the house and I am currently have some saltwater cooking. |
04/02/2011, 07:35 PM | #23 |
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sweet stand i love how well planned out everything is. btw make sure you refrigerate the reef plus after opening
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04/02/2011, 09:00 PM | #24 | |
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Quote:
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04/05/2011, 11:46 AM | #25 |
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S two days ago I brought everything into the house and started setting up the tank. I had most of my salt already mixed up when I ran out. I had a 200g box of reef crystal that I bought and I opened it up and poured the first bag into my storage bucket. when I went to grab the second bag I found that it was ripped and the salt was hardened and the same thing with the third bag returning it on tomorrow. So I laid out the rock and sand, then started pouring in the saltwater. I had everything wired nicely and zipped tied together, then powered everything on. The tank is nearly silent except for the light fan.
I put together an ATO system which consist of an Aqua Lifter, 5 gallon water jug, and airline tubing. I have the Aqua lifter plugged into the apex and I have it come on for 2 minutes three times a day. I will see how this works and up the minutes as needed. My tank has been up and running for 48 hours and I still have a good amount of very fine micro bubbles. My bubble trap catches all the other bubbles, I just think it from being new water in a new tank. Here is a list of what I have in this setup. 29G tank (Aqueon) 10G Sump DIY stand 40lbs Dry rock (BRS reef saver rox) 30lbs Caribsea Seaflor Reef Special Grade 5lbs Rumble rock (BRS) 3/4" BeanAnimal Overflow setup DIY power center Mag drive 7 Neptune System Apex Lite Current Nova Extreme 4X39 Vortech MP10 Tunze 9002 skimmer Jager 100W Heater 100 micro filter sock 15W 5000k CFL flood light ATO(Aqua Lifter) BRS GFO & Carbon Reactor (not installed yet) So here are the pics of the setup. |
Tags |
29 gallon, diy projects, nano build, nano reef, power strip |
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